A li'l work, a li'l play. While the rest of us folks soak up the rain and cold, the Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team is destined for the sand and sunshine of Hawaii prior to a brief Christmas break. The No. 8-ranked Falcons (1-1, 6-1), in the midst of six consecutive road games, make their first-ever trip to the Islands for the Coconut Coast Classic tournament in Hilo next week. SPU faces Kentucky Wesleyan (7-1) Monday (Dec. 17) and Stonehill College, Ma. (5-2) Tuesday (Dec. 18) before moving onto Honolulu and a couple days on Waikiki. Play resumes Dec. 28-29 with the CCAA/GNAC Challenge and a bout with defending NCAA champion Cal Poly Pomona.

Haven't been there, done that. While Seattle Pacific men's basketball and volleyball teams made regular visits to Hawaii and Hilo in particular during the Falcons' Pacific West Conference years (1991-2001), none of the four Island schools played women's basketball. Yet Hawaii Hilo does host a combined men's and women's tournament each December and SPU is one of eight small college programs making the pilgrimage to the east coast of the Big Island. It will be the longest trip since Coach Gordy Presnell took his team to Arkansas for the 1998 Elite Eight.

Hanging in there. After matching their best-ever national ranking at No. 6 a week ago, the Falcons fell a couple notches to No. 8 in the WBCA/USA Today coaches poll following their first loss of the season. SPU has won 15 consecutive nonconference regular season games dating back to 1999. Kentucky Wesleyan is reeling from six losses in a row, but came within eight points of top-ranked Northern Kentucky last week. Cal Poly Pomona is ranked No. 3 in this week's poll.

Formula found. Following a six-game stampede to open the season, Seattle Pacific suffered its first setback at Northwest Nazarene last week as the team was unable to overcome cold shooting and foul trouble. Center Kelley Berglund (Jr., 6-3, Port Angeles, Wa./Pt. Angeles-Washington State), who was coming off back-to-back double-doubles, was limited to only 12 minutes of court time and just four points and two rebounds versus the Crusaders, who outscored the visitors 17-3 in the final five minutes to win 66-62. Berglund, who posted 19 points and 10 boards at Saint Martin's, remains the team's leader in scoring (15.9), rebounding (6.9) and field-goal percentage (.588).

Time to get warm. The Falcons, who had shot the ball extremely well in the first five games, went flat beginning with the second half of a 68-53 victory at Saint Martin's to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The backcourt of point guard Kerie Hughes (Jr., 5-6, Mount Vernon, Wa./Mt. Vernon) and Stephanie Urrutia (Jr., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa./Sunnyside) combined for 25 points and 9-20 shooting in Idaho but the rest of the team was only 12-42, including 1-10 3-pointers. SPU had shot 48 percent or higher in averaging 99.8 points in the first five contests. Hughes played all but two minutes in Nampa and finished with 14 points and eight assists. She is currently fourth nationally in assists, averaging 7.1. Urrutia's 26 points topped the team for the week. Her season average of 13.1 is second only to Berglund and, following four blocked shots at NNU, surprisingly leads the team with 11.

Put-backs. Nationally, SPU is third in scoring, second in scoring margin and 10th in field-goal percentage...Presnell is nine wins away from 300 for his career...The Falcons will take their third straight break of nine or more days after this week's games. The next home game is Jan. 3 when GNAC play resumes versus Seattle University...The Falcons rank first in the GNAC in scoring (89.8), margin of victory (+34.3), field-goal shooting (.487), rebounding margin (+13.3) and blocked shots (5.7)...Individually, Hughes is ranked first in assists (7.1), second in free-throw shooting (.944) and 3-point shooting (.714). Urrutia is second in blocks (1.8), fourth in assists (4.6), sixth in scoring (13.1) and seventh in 3-point shooting (.476). Kristin Poe (So., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa./Enumclaw) is third in steals (3.3) and seventh in field-goal shooting (.556). Berglund is third in scoring (15.9) and field-goal shooting (.588), fourth in blocks (1.0) and tenth in rebounding (6.9). Emily Faurholt (Fr., Kennewick, Wa./Kennewick) is third in 3-point shooting (.500) and 10th in scoring (12.0). Valerie Gustafson (So., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills) is fifth in field-goal shooting (.561) and fourth in blocks (0.9).

Opponents & series notes. This will be the Falcons' first meeting with Kentucky Wesleyan, the school which eliminated the men's team from the 2000 Final Four in overtime of the semifinal. Guard Leslie Warren leads the Panthers with a 16.5 scoring average...SPU met Stonehill six years ago in San Diego during a tournament and prevailed 74-69. The Chieftains have dropped two of their last three and feature three players averaging between 13-15 points.

SPU Coaches. Coach Gordy Presnell began the 2001-02 campaign needing just 15 wins to reach the 300-victory milestone. Presnell has never registered a losing season in 14 years at the helm of the Seattle Pacific University basketball program. He took a team that had not recorded a winning record in nine seasons or earned a trip to the postseason and transformed it into a Division II powerhouse. During his tenure, the Falcons have averaged more than 20 wins per season and qualified for the playoffs nine times, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1998. Lynne DeYoung is in her fifth season as an assistant coach under Presnell after recording a handful of three-point shooting records for the Falcons. Brett Hecko enters his first as an assistant coach this season.